A British Columbia-based climate change activist says he's looking forward to seeing his family and eating the food when he returns to his native Pakistan, as he was being deported from Canada on Sunday.
Zain Haq and his Canadian wife were hoping for a last-minute intervention by either the public safety minister or the immigration minister to stop his deportation, but he says he's "at peace" with his fate as he waited on board a plane departing from Toronto.
Haq, who pleaded guilty to mischief charges in 2023 over his role in environmental protests that blocked Metro Vancouver roads, says his wife Sophia Papp is planning to travel to Pakistan in the near future to join him.
He says the couple wants to return to Canada and they intend to file an out-of-country spousal sponsorship application on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, though he notes the process can take years to get through.
Haq says he has no ill will toward those involved in the decision to deport him, but he believes it was "unethical" to have him removed from the country.
A spokeswoman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says the department could not comment on specific cases due to privacy legislation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2025.
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
